While Fernando Alonso has called for more respect between drivers after the incident in Bahrain when Nico Rosberg pushed him off the track, Lewis Hamilton made it clear yesterday that the similar incident he was involved in with the Chinese Grand Prix winner was done and dusted for him.

It was, Ferrari summarised perfectly, the day on which the 2012 Formula One season got under way in "indecipherable fashion". The start had been eagerly awaited after three weeks of inconclusive testing, with six world champions ready to do battle and a raft of new cars built to revised regulations. But as proceedings were twice affected by heavy rain, few emerged any the wiser about the true pecking order.

Michael Schumacher looked forward to being a contender again as his Mercedes team belatedly pulled the wraps off their shiny new Formula One car before testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya today.